The hoop house and the open garden are being groomed and readied for planting. Compost is being turned and mixed. Seeds are being sprouted in the small greenhouse. We now have a small tractor to help control wild blackberries and move heavy materials and compost to where needed. Stay tuned for updates as the 2018 season begins.

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In another time of year, when winter breathes its last gasps, we say spring has sprung.

But this is not that time. In a year when spring barely sprang and summer came late, delaying the start of the start of the harvestable season, the warm weather and dry days appear to have left us for the year. The rains have come, heralding the arrival of autumn. Fall has fallen.

What does this mean for Cedar Rock Farm? For most of us here, it means colder workdays, as we continue to grow and harvest fresh, delicious treats for our CSA subscribers until the end of the season. It also means we’re hard at work preparing for the inevitable arrival for winter, part of which is keeping an eye to the future and planning to delight our subscribers with more locally-grown food next spring.

We’ve kept our farm stand open through the rains this week, and plan to continue our normal operating hours. We did close on Tuesday due to the intensity of the downpour, and to give ourselves an opportunity to patch the roof, but we remain committed to keeping our stand open for your benefit until the season is done! We thank those dedicated souls who stopped by to see us in spite of the weather, even during the heavier rains.

Since the end of May, Cedar Rock Farm has set up shop at the market every Wednesday. It was a remarkable opportunity with which to get to know our neighbors better. We built relationships with customers, fellow farmers and entrepreneurs, the kids who participated in the PoP program, and even a number of new canine friends as well! (You all have such adorable dogs!)

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and the market ended for the season on August 31st.

Don’t worry, though! You can still connect with us at our farm stand, which is now open Monday through Friday from 1-6pm. CSA members who wish to pick up their boxes at the farm stand can do so on Fridays.

Still can’t make it all the way out to our farm stand? No worries! CSA members who were picking their boxes up at our booth in the market can now pick up their weekly installments of fresh farm produce at Cafe West Linn on Tuesdays.

Speaking of that fresh farm produce, we have a few openings in our CSA membership. Since the season is mostly behind us, we’re offering these slots on a prorated basis. Head on over to our CSA signup page if you’re interested, or the CSA information page if you’re still wondering what all this means. If that’s not enough, you can always contact us directly with questions.

We really enjoyed our time getting to know the community through the West Linn Street Market. Thank you so much to the organizers for putting it all together, to the market-goers who stopped to chat, and to everyone who made us feel welcome this year. We look forward to seeing you all again, and hope you’ll visit us at our farm stand!

We were a little nervous, as this year’s shift in weather patterns caused a delay in the start of our season. But we were encouraged to have a presence at the market right from the start in order to support the incredible Power of Produce program, or PoP.

Started as a method to inspire and teach kids to get connected with healthy foods and the farms their meals come from, PoP grants children who join the program two dollars in tokens each week to spend on produce at farmers markets. We wanted to be there for the kids and support the efforts of the PoP program, so we pulled together enough pepper, honeydew melon, and amaranthus starts to offer kids a chance to grow a little food themselves. We hope to offer more this week, including sunflower starts and several varieties of mint.

We’ll be at the Summer Street Market in West Linn every Wednesday during the summer. In addition to selling our produce and encouraging kids’ interest in plants, the market will be a pick-up point for our CSA subscribers. Those who have ordered weekly boxes of fresh, delicious produce will be able to pick up their goods at our booth starting on June 21st! If you haven’t become a CSA subscriber yet, make sure to fill out our order form before all the slots are full!

We really enjoyed meeting everyone at the market. Whether kids or adults, customers or fellow vendors, we’re always happy to meet more amazing people in our local communities. So we really hope to see you on Wednesdays in West Linn!

The Summer Street Market is located on Willamette Falls Drive, between 13th St and 14th St. in West Linn. You can find out more information about the market at HistoricWillamette.com or on their Facebook page.

Located in the historic Willamette neighborhood, the market opens Wednesday, May 31st, and runs through August 31st. We’ll have a table set up all summer, so we hope you come say hello! It’s a great opportunity to check out locally farmed goods, and to become more connected with both your community and the food on your table.

We’ve partnered with the Summer Street Market to bring fresh groceries to West Linn via our Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions. We’ll be bringing subscribers a delivery of goods each week after the start of the CSA season, which they can pick up at our table at the market!

Not only that, the market is a family activity with a twist specifically designed to encourage kids to have an interest in healthy food and where it comes from. The Summer Street Market will be participating in a program called PoP, short for Power of Produce. According to the West Linn Tidings, PoP originated in Oregon City and “aims to empower kids by providing free tokens each week and allowing them to make their own food selections.”

Like Community Supported Agriculture, the market is also a time to learn about what challenges farmers face. Don’t see that particular fruit, vegetable, or herb that you were hoping for? Well, it might not be in season yet. The prolonged cold this unusual winter and spring brought us has impacted most local farms. Don’t worry; we’ll still be at the market with the goods we have available, and we’ll be taking sign-ups for our remaining few CSA subscriptions! This year’s weather does mean, however, that we’ve had to push our CSA start date back — customers will now begin receiving boxes on June 21st.

We’ll have CSA sign-up sheets at our table in the market as long as subscriptions last. We can only grow so much, so CSA subscriptions are limited!

The Summer Street Market is located on Willamette Falls Drive, between 13th St and 14th St. in West Linn. You can find out more information about the market at HistoricWillamette.com or on their Facebook page.

Darkness all around me
fresh into this life.
This feeling is astounding
though I am full of strife.
I feel like I am drowning
there is no where to go.
My heartbeat is pounding
I need to try and grow.
I reach my limbs out
as far as they can.
I am filled with doubt
Is this my life span?
This will not be my fate
I will not die here.
I move at a slow rate
and I fight through my fear.
I push and I crawl
as I move through the dark.
No time to stall
I need to hit my mark.
Then finally a light
So blinding and warm;
It gave me a fright
But helped me transform.

I was not dying
I was being born.

—Dakota Huber

Onion seedlings discovering the world beyond the soil. Photo taken by Adam J. Manley.

This year’s season runs from June through October, giving you 20-22 weeks of fresh, responsible, local goods depending on weather conditions. Seasonal highlights include several varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, pumpkins, corn, carrots, melons, basil, dill, oregano, and more!

To subscribe, you can either fill out the form below or, if you prefer, you can contact us directly.

[As the early bird special ended on April 1st, this form has been removed to eliminate further confusion. If you are still looking for a form with which to sign up for CSA shares, please see our CSA Signup page.]